Industrial Automation Magazine India

Free choice of simulation tool

Published on : Tuesday 27-09-2022

New function from B&R opens up more possibilities for exchanging models.

September 2022 – B&R has added a new function to its Automation Studio development environment. With FMU Export, machine code can be exported and integrated as a PLC simulation into any simulation tool, allowing simulation experts to work in the familiar software ecosystem of their choice. This saves both valuable time and resources during interdisciplinary development.

All necessary data is automatically bundled into a Functional Mock-up Unit, or FMU. Because the exported FMU incorporates a standardized interface, there is no need to create a new interface for each tool. The only requirement on the tool side is support for the FMI 2.0 standard. FMI stands for Functional Mock-up Interface, an industry-independent standard for exchanging models between different modeling tools.

Data exchange in both directions: It was already possible to import machine models into Automation Studio using FMU Import. Now developers can also export their machine code to the simulation tool of their choice. Starting with Automation Studio 4.12, FMU Export is available to all Automation Studio users.

B&R is an innovative automation company with headquarters in Austria and offices all around the world. On July 6, 2017, B&R became a business unit of the ABB Group. As a global leader in industrial automation, B&R combines state-of-the-art technology with advanced engineering to provide customers in virtually every industry with complete solutions for machine and factory automation, motion control, HMI and integrated safety technology. With Industrial IoT communication standards like OPC UA, POWERLINK and openSAFETY as well as the powerful Automation Studio software development environment, B&R is constantly redefining the future of automation engineering.